The Review | CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat

Truth be told, it’s been a good while since I’ve blogged about polish and that’s likely because in the craziness over the last few months, I had not exactly found the energy to paint my nails. However, I’ve gotten back into it with gusto and I’ve realized that I want to sing the praises of a particular top coat – as I adore it, even though it’s going on a year old and I don’t use it as intended. While I don’t get a week of chip-less wear out of a single manicure with the CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat ($12.25), I have noticed that I have the longest lasting manicures with this top coat out of any that I’ve tried, and that’s even using the system as unintended – the seven days is only promised in combination with the matching polish that I’ve never gotten around to trying. Before I get onto the other details, I have had friends use my top coat who have way less fidgety and chipping-prone hands and nails and they have consistently gotten a week of solid wear out of a polish when combined with this base coat. I’m coming to the conclusion that polishes just tend to chip on me faster than others, but with this top coat, it’s the least bad.

The system promises chip-free wear for seven days when combined with polishes from the system – and while I can’t comment on this, I find that it gives me 3-5 days of solid polish wear without noticeable chipping, even with my constant scratching away and fidgeting. In terms of getting to the point here, the top coat works in my experience to add serious longevity to your manicure, even when you’re using it without the matching polishes. This top coat is one of those ones that hardens in response to natural light over time, making it more durable as time goes on; I can definitely agree with this claim, while I experience some minimal chipping because it prevents the polish from breaking down on my nails when in contact with surfaces and picking at them. It’s also intended to add serious shine, which it definitely does, often looking as glossy as a salon manicure.

The top coat is not specifically described this way, but in my experience, it’s definitely one of those thicker top coats and as a result, it smoothes out the texture of polishes in an instant and leaves behind gel-like shine. It’s not one of those fast drying polishes as a result, but I can’t complain given its other attributes – and it’s not like it’s the slowest drying top coat either. Because of the thicker formula, it can definitely get gloopier over time. However, I found my bottle did not do this until far after the sixth month mark and I was able to restore my bottle with ten or so drops of polish thinner. I guess even though I’m using this top coat in a non-label fashion, it is my favourite top coat.